After reading "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg I was very confused. I felt the reading was very hard to understand but I attempted to get as much out of it as I could. The first line was very interesting to me. "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,"(page 9). He feels everyone is so into the social norm that they are not living the lives they should be. The madness he talks about is how everyone conforms to the same rules. Within the first page I saw that he used words such as "supernatural darkness" and Black-light tragedy"(page 9) to show the bad things happening in the world. These words make you feel danger and somber instead of being happy. Ginsberg uses very descriptive writing to show his feelings to the world and society itself. When he says, "illuminating all the motionless world of Time between,"(page 10) he is showing that all people are doing the same thing and following the same rules. Illuminating means to light up. I feel he is trying to let people know what the world is doing and showing how things could change.
During this time people did not use fowl language, but Ginsberg does so to demonstrate what needs to be done in society. "dragged off the roof waving genitals and manuscripts,"(page 13), this language is not appropriate but I feel Ginsberg feels it is necessary to get his point across. He is going against the cultural norms and society standards to show there is more you can do with your life then follow the rules. "drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality,"(page 16) this is showing America what reality is. Everyone in the world is not perfect and there will be times that people do not follow the social norms. Even though the people around you may not see it, it is happening everyday. One part I found every interesting was when Ginsberg says, "and even that imaginary, nothing but a hopeful little bit of hallucination-"(page 19). I found this line very interesting but had a hard time deciding what he meant about it. I feel he could mean he is hoping everyone will follow his thoughts and figure out life is not always about following the rules.
Although I found it hard to understand his meanings throughout this writing I really enjoyed his descriptive writing and forceful out look on society. He says, "Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit!"(page 22). He writes a list of different happy and good things in life and ends it with these things not meaning anything to him. Ginsberg is figuring himself out in life not just the others around him. He describes all the bad things he has done in his life but is trying to fix them for the future. The final sentence, "They jumped of the roof! to solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! into the street!"(page 23). This shows him figuring out himself in life. By jumping off the roof he is letting go of the past and moving on to the future. Ginsberg is trying to prove what happened in the modernest movement. People didn't have to live by those standards to still be excepted, you could do whatever you wanted and still be satisfied with your life.
Very good analysis. I like how you point out that Ginsberg is going against social norms by using profane words such as "genitals" and "bullshit". I agree with you that Ginsberg has a forceful outlook on society. When you mention the final sentence, " They jumped off the roof! to solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! into the street!," how does this last line show that Ginsberg is figuring out himself? Perhaps he is experimenting with freedom, but maybe go into more detail when talking about such extensive quotes. Overall, Great Job!!
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